TIMELINE: ANCIENT ROME PAGE V

1 CE-50 CE

Provides a chronological index of the history of Ancient Rome with extensive links to internet resources. Emphasis is placed upon the use of primary source material and new perspectives upon the roles of women in ancient time.

Thank you for visiting!

Kindly report any suggestions, problems, errors, or dead links by emailing david(at)exovedate.com

Copyright © David Neelin: All Rights Reserved

Using info from this site?

For detailed copyright information and bibliographic citation, click here

contact the author by emailing david(at)exovedate.com (note: replace (at) with the @ symbol)

The timeline is divided chronologically into eight sections:
This symbol indicates a link to a primary source text

 

14 CE d. Ruled 27 BCE-14 CE || Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (Augustus)

The political reforms implemented by Octavian, later the Divine Augustus Caesar, laid the foundation for a new society and influenced the western world for over a millennium.

Here are his accomplishments in his own words:

Selections from the Acts of the Divine Augustus (Res Gestae Divi Augusti)

 

A description of Livia, his wife, from the ancient historian Tacitus:

"she had gained such a hold on the aged Augustus that he drove out as an exile into the island of Planasia, his only grandson, Agrippa Postumus, who, though devoid of worthy qualities, and having only the brute courage of physical strength, had not been convicted of any gross offence"

| Augustus of Primaporta | Marble | Vatican Museum, Rome | c. 20 BCE |

"Whatever the fact was, Tiberius as he was just entering Illyria was summoned home by an urgent letter from his mother (Livia), and it has not been thoroughly ascertained whether at the city of Nola he found Augustus still breathing or quite lifeless. For Livia had surrounded the house and its approaches with a strict watch, and favourable bulletins were published from time to time... (but) Augustus was dead and that Tiberius Nero was master of the State."

The transference of the seat of government from Augustus to Livia's son Nero meant that his power had to be sealed at all quarters. The following quote is revealing of how power was shared among groups in Rome:

"Sextus Pompeius and Sextus Apuleius, the consuls, were the first to swear allegiance to Tiberius Caesar, and in their presence the oath was taken by Seius Strabo and Caius Turranius, respectively the commander of the praetorian cohorts and the superintendent of the corn supplies. Then the Senate, the soldiers and the people did the same"

23 BCE - 33 CE|| Vipsania Agrippina (Agrippina the Elder)

Agrippina was the granddaughter of Augustus, by way of his only daughter Julia, and her husband, Augustus' faithful friend and confidant Agrippa. Agrippina became married to the popular Roman general and consul, Germanicus.

Agrippina accompanied Germanicus on his military campaigns, (it is from his victories which Germanicus posthumously secured the name "Germanicus", similar to Scipio Africanus securing the name "Africanus") and she apparently was very much admired by the Roman soldiers. Tacitus wrote "that brave woman (Agrippina) took on the duties of a general throughout those days... it is said that... she stood at the front of the bridge and gave thanks and praise to the returning legions."

On the death of Agrippa, Julia married her stepbrother Tiberius. This was a marriage of political convenience, as had been her marriage to Agrippa. Agrippina's mother Julia was eventually banished to the island of Pandateria by her grandfather Augustus, due to her sexual infidelity. Agrippina never saw her mother again. By order of Tiberius, Julia was starved to death.

Germanicus died in the Eastern city of Antioch in 19 CE under mysterious circumstances. It was reported that his corpse showed signs of being poisoned. It is widely believed that if he had not died at this early age, that he would have become emperor, for Augustus had Tiberius adopt him as his son for this purpose. Tiberius was never as popular with the Roman people as was the successful general Germanicus, and Agrippina became convinced that he was murdered by his command. Agrippina brought her husband's ashes back to Rome, and they were placed in the Augustan Mausoleum.

The chief suspect in Germanicus' death was charged with treason, and committed suicide. Rumor spread that he did so to avoid having to reveal the fact that Tiberius was behind the murder plot. Graffiti stating "Rendite nos Germanicum", meaning "Give us back Germanicus," started to appear all over Rome. Agrippina, determined to appease the memory of her husband and bring down Tiberius, is reported to have lead riots against Tiberius.

The hostility between Agrippina and Tiberius increased, and Tiberius accused her of having an affair with Ascinius Gallus. She was captured and flogged so severely by a centurion as punishment that she lost an eye.

Finally she, along with her son Nero Caesar, were banished to the island of Pandateria, as her mother Julia had been. She died here of starvation ca. 31 CE.

While early in her career she demonstrated the ancient feminine virtues of fidelity, loyalty, and fertility, some historians argue that it was stepping outside of this traditional role and becoming overtly political which led to her downfall.

Her son, the notorious Caligula, became emperor upon Tiberius' death.

 

9 CE || The Battle of Teutoburg Forest

An important defeat for the Roman military, as three legions were annihilated, almost to a man, by the German Cherusci tribe under the leadership of Arminius. Between 20,000 to 25,000 Roman soldiers are believed to have been massacred. The Roman commander, Publius Quintilius Varus, committed suicide in disgrace.

Read:

| The Battle of Teutoburg Forest

By Paterculus

c. 23 CE b. || Pliny the Elder

Was an important writer and encyclopaedist, and authority on science. He reputedly died in 79 while observing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

c. 35 CE-c. 66 CE || Petronius Arbiter

Petronius is the author of the Satyricon, the oldest extant novel. The value of the Satyricon, aside from being highly entertaining, and whatever literary merits it may possess, is that it provides insight, rarely provided by ancient authors, into the daily life of characters outside of the upper echelons of Roman society.

 

 

| Street Musicians | Mosaic | Dioskourides of Samos | Pompeii | c. 100 BCE |

Petronius himself was quite a character, and in the end committed suicide, after having been accused, perhaps falsely, of taking part in a plot against the Emperor Nero, for whom he was the arbiter elegantiae, or put simply, in charge of designing the most entertaining parties possible for the pleasure of Nero and his guests. As a member of Nero's court and former governor of Bithynia and consul, Petronius was certainly not from the lower stratum of Roman society. But he was no stranger to the wilder side of Roman life either.

Tacitus says:

He passed his days in sleep, and his nights in business, or in joy and revelry. Indolence was at once his passion and his road to fame. What others did by vigor and industry, he accomplished by his love of pleasure and luxurious ease. Unlike the men who profess to understand social enjoyment, and ruin their fortunes, he led a life of expense, without profusion; an epicure, yet not a prodigal; addicted to his appetites, but with taste and judgment; a refined and elegant voluptuary.

Just the man to design entertainments for the Emperor Nero, the self proclaimed artiste, and lover of lavish, decadent amusements. Tacitus says that "Without the sanction of Petronius nothing was exquisite, nothing rare or delicious."

Petronius' favour with Nero did not sit well with others:

"Hence the jealousy of Tigellinus, who dreaded a rival in the good graces of the Emperor almost his equal; in the science of luxury his superior. Tigellinus determined to work his downfall; and accordingly addressed himself to the cruelty of the Prince,-- that master passion, to which all other affections and every motive were sure to give way. He charged Petronius with having lived in close intimacy with Scaevinus, the conspirator; and to give color to that assertion, he bribed a slave to turn informer against his master."

Faced with this accusation, Petronius took his life:

He opened his veins, and closed them again, at intervals losing a small quantity of blood, then binding up the orifice, as his own inclination prompted. He conversed during the whole time with his usual gayety, never changing his habitual manner, nor talking sentences to show his contempt of death.

But not without some revenge upon Nero, for, knowing the secrets of Nero's vices with intimate detail he:

"...having written, under the fictitious names of profligate men and women, a narrative of Nero's debauchery and his new modes of vice, he had the spirit to send to the Emperor that satirical romance...Nero saw with surprise his clandestine passions and the secrets of his midnight revels laid open to the world."

Evidence suggests that this was not the Satyricon, and unfortunately, does not survive.

The Satyricon tells of the wicked adventures of the friends, rivals, and petty thieves Encolpius, Ascyltos, and the younger Giton, thus providing valuable insight into the morality and values of the day.

While it is important to interpret the Satyricon as the satirical fiction that it is, it does provide us with a look at some female character types that the historians tended to leave out of their works.

Tryphaena, for instance, "a very handsome woman, who had come with Lichas, master of a ship and owner of estates near the seacoast" quickly becomes intimate with Encolpius and as he says "readily acceded to my wishes." She also "was desperately enamored of Giton."

Not surprisingly, Tryphaena and Encolpius quarrel:

"I proclaimed her baseness to the crowds of people our altercation had attracted, and in token of the truth of my allegations, I showed them Giton pale and bloodless and myself brought to death's door by the strumpet's wantonness. The crowd burst into loud shouts of laughter, which so abashed our adversaries that they withdrew, crestfallen and vowing vengeance..."

Here they encounter a secret mystery cult, comprised of women:

Towards nightfall we met in a remote spot two respectably robed and good-looking women, and followed them slowly and softly to a small temple, which they entered, and from which a strange humming was audible, like the sound of voices issuing from the recesses of a cavern. Curiosity impelled us likewise to enter the temple, and there we beheld a number of women, resembling Bacchantes, each brandishing an emblem of Priapus (the god of fertility) in her right hand. This was all we were permitted to see; for the instant they caught sight of us, they set up such a shouting the vault of the sacred building trembled, and tried to seize hold of us. But we fled as fast as our legs would carry us..."

 

 

| The God Priapus | Fresco | House of the Vettii, Pompeii | c. 60 CE |

Later, confronted by one of the participants:

"...what wrings my heart and drives me almost to despair is the dread that in your youthful levity you may reveal what you saw in the shrine of Priapus, and betray the counsels of the gods to the common herd. This is why I stretch forth suppliant hands to your knees, and beg and pray you not to turn into ribaldry and jest our nocturnal rites, nor willingly divulge the secrets of so many years,-- secrets known to barely a thousand persons all told."

Read:

The Satyricon

39 CE b. || Lucan

Roman historian, wrote:

| The Civil Wars

The timeline is divided chronologically into eight sections:
This symbol indicates a link to a primary source text

 

Click here to learn the real story

behind the events and characters portrayed in the movie Gladiator.